The Hawks' girls led wire-to-wire as they cruised to their third straight NVL title with an astounding 175 points.

Seymour (83.5) placed second while Derby (42), Wolcott (40) and Naugatuck (34.5) filled out the top five.

But it was Wolcott's surprising boys win that stole the show Tuesday. The Eagles only won two events — the opening 4x200 relay and the closing 4x400 race — while Woodland took five victories, but Wolcott coach Becky Riviezzo said her team's depth made the difference.

"I kind of had an idea that if everything fell into place, it could happen," Riviezzo said. "We needed some kids to step up, and even though we didn't take a lot of first places, those fourths, fifths and sixths really carried us."

She watched with confidence as the foursome of Michael Rapisarda, Tyler Sheldon, Caleb Sisson and Daniel Neal led the 4x400 from start to finish. Neal ran the anchor leg and stopped the clock at 3:40.98, nearly five seconds ahead of second-place Wilby.

"I was already hurting from the 300, and I knew I had to push it," Neal said. "We needed eight points to win, and I knew we were going to do it."

Woodland held an 84-77 lead entering the event, but the Hawks finished fifth in the race. They missed out on the championship by less than two seconds in the final event, despite the efforts of Mike Lang.

Lang was the only athlete to win three individual events Tuesday. He took his specialties, the long jump (21 feet, half-inch) and high jump (5-8), and earned the 55-meter hurdles gold in his first season of trying that discipline.

"Running an 8.29 (in the hurdles) was pretty good, so I'm pretty happy with that," said Lang, who won the awards for outstanding in the field, outstanding meet performer and outstanding senior. "I can't get too impressed. There's always someone who wants to beat you."

The other top performer on the boys side was Seymour's Austin Fraser, who set an NVL record with his effort of 1:26.21 in the 600 meters. He later won the 300 in 38.08 seconds, despite having to race alone in the first heat due to an entry error.

"It was freaky," Fraser said. "I knew what I had to do, though, and I do that at practice every day."

"I never expected it," Woodland girls coach Jeff Lownds said of the 91.5-point win. "I expected this to be between us and Seymour, but our girls were totally dedicated and really on. It has to be a total team effort to score 175 points, which might be a record."

The Wildcats competed without star runner Katie Petroski, who missed the meet with a quad injury. Seymour assistant coach Tom Lennon said she hopes to compete at the state meet.

Petroski's absence opened the door for Michie, who won the outstanding in hurdles/sprints and outstanding senior awards. Menzies also provided a surprise with her win in the long jump, an event she was not going to compete in just two weeks ago.

"I had tough competition in the high jump, and I'm not that good in the long jump," Menzies said. "Coach (Adam) Schultz is a really good coach."

Derby freshman Kiley Rodriguez followed up an All-NVL cross country season with victories in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Teammate Gabriella Prizio, the NVL cross country champ, took the 1,000 meters.

"I didn't think I was going to be able to do it," Rodriguez said. "I've learned that I have to work very hard and that it pays off."

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